Forgotten

[Kayden Skyler]

The Peak of Power

Spoiler: Music OOC

It is cold.
It is dark.
Eternity is old.
But he has ears to hear.
In the dark…
Those ears…
They hear…

She screams.
He listens.
Savors.
Sweet screams.
Sweet dreams.

Screams.
In his head.
They’re there.
All of them.
All those screams.
All those heads…
The dying.
And the dead.

Screams.

He dreams.

Of screams?
Obviously.

But so much more.
Like how my sister was a whore.

Kayden, did you forget?

Kayden can see a sunset.
It’s dark but Kayden has eyes to see, you see.

KARK.
KARK YOU, KAYDEN.

Who, me? Why? What did I do?

I DON’T HAVE EYES TO SEE, KAYDEN.
DO I?
DO I?
DO I?

Why?

YOU TOOK THEM FROM ME.

GASP! 'Tis true!?

I.
HATE.
YOU.

WHAT ABOUT ME?

WHAT ABOUT ME, KAYDEN?

WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO PUT MY STOMACH BACK INSIDE ME?

Oh, that was me?

KAYDEN.

…Sure it wasn’t Dr. Sawin?

KAYDEEEEEEEEEN.

Heh.

Screams.

All those screams…

There's another scream.
This one's a he, teeheeheeheeeeeee!
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
How he screamed!
You would have loved it.

Dr. Sawin?
Yes, obviously.

Why him, Kayden?
Ehhh every tool grows blunt at some point, I guess..?

Cheriss?
Depends on whether or not she gives me a kiss.

A naked man has few secrets; a flayed man, none.

A man in a tank is kind of naked.
But Kayden is a man not to be undone.

HELLO, CHERISS.

He remembers a face, there in black water, drifting like driftwood; no, like bodies from a slaughter.
Remembers a boy; some pale, pasty, thin little thing.
Calls himself a man, probably has a little thing.
A face...
Ah, yes...
Laeonas.

A Sith had almost forgotten.

Oh, Kayden.
...Yes?

You are a killer.
I am that is.

He was more than that, he knew, there in the cold, in the dark.
A sea...a sea in the stars...

He could feel it as he sleeps, as a black hole slumbers, and he remembers letters, remembers numbers.

Passion, yet pain.
Through passion I will flay.

There are hundreds of screams, hundreds in his head.
But only one Silence, O yes, only one sea, only one sky to burn out of a hundred.
Only my violence, only me, only one Skyler, only one...Kayden.

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Knives, chains.
Daggers, blades.
Canot contemplate.
How they carve a face.

What is a man?
Asks a voice.

I am—I am man.
Tells a voice.

A man knows who he is.
Knows who he is not.
A man has business.
And almost forgot.

Get me out of this.

Why, Kayden Skyler?
Why ask me?
Why not ask Mother?
Oh! I know!
You broke her teeth.

He’d do it again.
Again.
And again.
And again!
AND AGAIN.

AGAIN.
AGAIN.
AGAIN.

No, something was not quite right, something’s amiss…
I…never met my…mother…or...did I...did...eye...try...my...

A man is uncertain.
What is this new…uncertainty?

A man always knows what he is.
A man is Kayden Skyler, a Sith.
Yet…he…begins…to…wish…
For it all to…just…finish…

You are a fish, Kayden Skyler!

I am more, whore!
More than man!
More than Sith!
More than that!
More than this!

KAYDEN.

The water is dark, black of heart.
Bubbles in the mist, pop and part.
A man is cold, also heartless.
No, he is more than less.
Grey eyes are for skeletons.
The eyes of this Sith are RED!

RED.
VIOLET.
EMERALD.

The boy!
The girl!
The toy!
Her curl!

KAYDEN.

The Jedi!
The Sith!

KAYDENN.

Laeonas
Caelestis
Bir and Aria
Fenric, Eblon
Vuul and Taco

HELLO, CHERISS.

He hears them scream!
He hears them dream!
SILENT AS NIGHT.
VIOLENT AS BLIGHT.

THEY ARE SCREAMING.

But Kayden’s not LISTENING!

He feasts on screams!
They’re delicious!
Entices me!
OHH YES.

PASSIONATE.
FEED THE FLESH.
THEN SKIN THE REST.

FLAY.
FLAY.
FLAY.
FLAY.
FLAY.

If a man could flay the galaxy, peel back the fabrics of space and time, gut the heart of a sun like a fish, ravish a star, break planets and burn moons, getting to the black hole at the center of it all like a chocolate lollipop, then what could stop such a man from doing this or doing that?

Are you there, Kayden?

I am…I am…naked…

Yes, to the bone, to the brain.
Wet as sweat in a buckethead.

Have I…gone insane?

No, my friend.
Halfway there, yet.

A bleeding star.
A black sea.
A last day.
Remade.
Reshaped.
Broke things.
Nothing too far.

Where do I go from here?
Silence, not silence.

Are you the one?
Yes, I am thus.

Darkness…can we kiss?
I’m not that easy.
You have to chase me.

Why!? I keep trying!
By dying.

WH—
—AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!

And the man begins to thrash!
Begins to scream!
Begins to lash!
DREAM.

KAYDEN.
KAYDEN.
KAYDEN.
KAYDEN.
KAYDEN.

But Kayden’s not listening...
He's too busy...
...Screaming.

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

From The Peak of Power.
At last comes the hour.
Of Strange Tidings.
And stranger things.

Do words curve?
Well, not entirely.
Nonsense, really.
Words are words.

Hi, Kayden…
…Are you there?...

I’m…I’m…here…
I’m alive.
I am…Kayden…

Wake up, Kayden.
I…I’m awake…
Wake up, Kayden.
I just KARKIN’ SAID

WAKE UP, KAYDEN.
SHUT UP.
WAKE UP
NOOOOOOO
WAKE UP.
KAYDEN.
KAYDEN.
KAYDEN.
KAYDENNNNNNN.

KAYDEN
HE ISN’T
LISTENIN
KAYDEN
IS BUSY
SCREAMIN’

From the pain he’s in!
Razor blades on skin!
They kinda slice ‘n’ dice.
And Kayden kinda cries.

KAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYDEEEEEEEEEEEEEN.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A TASTE OF YOUR OWN MEDICINE.
I SHOULDA BEEN AN ELECTRICIAN.

DARTH VADER.
OR WHOEVER.
TIS NO MATTER.
HI LIGHTSABER.

WHETHER IT’S THIS OR THAT SITH.
SAME SHIT, DIFFERENT WEATHER.

OHHH KAYDEN.
SHUT UP KAM.
KAYDEEEEEN.
SHUT. UP. KAM.

You can’t shut me up.
I am a part of you, bro.
And I will never ever go.
Just like all the other folk.

Yes, Kayden, ohh all of them.
All those voices in your head.
The ones you keep and…eat.
The souls you swallow whole.

THE VOICES. IN MY HEAD. W-WWWWHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?
WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM
WHAT HAPPENED
TO THEM
HAPPENNNNNNED
WHAT HAPPENED, KAYDEN?
NOOO! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT ALL STOP! I WANT IT TO STOP!

HE IS IN MY HEAD!
GET HIM OUT OF IT!
DO YOU THINK I’M CRAZY?
KRIFFING. KARKING. DAISY.

I WILL FLAY YOUR KNEES.
OHHHH SO PAINFULLY.
NOOOOO PLEASE.
So ears DO bleed.

DOCTOR SAWIN.
HE ISN’T. LISTENIN.
KAYDEN IS A CRAYON.
LET’S GET YOUR FLAY ON.

And…the tank it…it breaks…
Like…like an egg…breakfast…
It breaks into fragments and shapes.
It breaks in two like a cracked pelvis.

If Kayden could kick a universe his foot just did.
Toes so broken except…no…they were shielded.
If the Force can kick a door open then it just did.
From the tank, the door flies away by a steel kiss.

Iron in the grip of his fist! His is a fist of a wicked Sith!
KAYDEN I HATE YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME.
I. HATE. YOU. YOU MURDERED MY WHOLE FAMILY.
YOU MADE THEM SCREAM AND YOU MADE ME SEE.

“...I…I…” Says a guy only…not quite. “...I…I…”
Water, he’s wet, it’s all over him, only, not quite.
It spills out around him, like a flushed toilet, swirling.
Away from naked Kayden, it’s moving, water spinning.

From the tank he was in, that black ocean, a liquid darkness.
Exposed! Open! Kayden! Awoken! Not Kayden! No! It isn’t!
“...I…I…I don’t give a shit…about any…of you…fucking…”
He’s choking! Gasping! Clutching his throat! Feels sick.

He spits, he vomits, spews bloody liquid from his stomach.
Looming over, naked as pale light from a tank left behind.
His hands grab the edges of its entrance and also his exit.
He beat it, this courageous guy; tries to laugh as he vomits.

“You are all mine.” He promises as he catches his breath.
“I carved you like meat, like slices of ham, upon your death.
Every voice inside my head.” He rises, stronger, he stands.
He blinks, his eyes sting, maybe bleed, but he’s still a man.

“We all need to feed…” He promises his screams.
He begins to shift his feet. Each one is so heavy.
He knows where he is. He is back on that floor.
Only…no more walls…no…no more…doors...

…I…am…Kayden…Skyler…
..Turn your eyes skyward…
…Darkness…is it…you?...
…Tilt your eyes higher…
…Stars…I see…a sky…
…Yes…the night sky…

Kayden Skyler stands outside.
Just as much he stands above.
All around him, metal crumpled.
All about him, mountain of rubble.

The ruins of that research facility.
Its remains stand up to his knees.
His tank had been underground.
Yes…I…I…remember it all…now.

He feels taller, stronger, in one way or the other.
In a graveyard, a factory exploded and burned.
A breeze hugs the bare body of Kayden Skyler.
Over there, cracked glass, serves as a mirror.

…And a man gazes in…
…Only…it…isn’t..him…
…It isn’t the same guy…
…Same face…or eye…

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music IC

Something was missing.
A minor case of déjà vu.
Am I misremembering?
I don’t understand you.

A man knows where he is.
Kayden is inside his ship.
The name of it is SIlence.
He flies her as her pilot.

Yet it's presently on autopilot.
She is all alone in outer space.
Her insides are otherwise quiet.
Save for the crying of the flayed.

Also the music permeating the vessel.
A guitar, more rock ‘n’ roll than metal.
Some drums, quite alive and vibrant.
Too casual, perhaps, for the violence.

Captain!
What is it?
Is this your pen?
Nah, that’s a…peni—

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!”

A man is screaming in the middle of the room.
It isn’t Kayden. He lifts his chin, studying him.
The other man, as naked as Kayden is too.
“Right. I cut off your member. There it is.”

Kayden pointed with his instrument, his knife.
All the while listening to the tune of that cry.
This one will not last much longer, poor guy.
It’s okay. We have the others still left alive.

“Wh-Why are you d-doing this to me!?”
One man hangs upside down on an X.
The other sits on a stool. “This again.”
The age-old question. “I have a need.”

He’s bleeding. And I think some of his skin is missing.
Hey, buddy, did ya remember to turn off the oven?
“Unlike you, I can fulfill my desire, little muffin.”
That made the man whine. Hm, yes, tis a pity.

"Hunger. Thirst. Sometimes it's a way to pass time."
It puts the finger on the edge or it gets to be bled again.
Yet Kayden wasn’t the one bleeding, not like that guy.
“I won’t lie. This won’t end well. You will end up dead.”

“But I…told you…everything…I know…”
He bleeds. He screams. And so...we feed.
“False. I see secrets between your teeth.”
Ask him where the credits are. Huh? Oh.

“You can die slowly or you can die quickly. That is your choice.”
The man howled, begging for mercy, but his is a distant voice.
Kayden rose from his stool, approached, and raised his blade.
Sharp, thin, can fillet a fish, flay skin. “You’re losing this game.”

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
“There goes the elbow.”
It became raw red flesh.
“And there goes the neck.”

A wirst flick sent the blade across the throat.
That was premature, Skyler. Now we need another.
“It happens. Bring one in.” He called to his minion.
“Before I rue the day I flayed your mother.” He goes.

A dead body is replaced with a living one, stripped bare, like a log to the furnace.
Strapped in, ankles and wrists fitted with bindings, eyes wide, pleading in earnest.
“Let me go! I won’t say anything!” That is the problem, isn’t it? “You don’t need this.”
Blood spurted like spittle from a sliced nipple. “I need to know where your boss is.”

The man thrashed, spat, roared like a lion, barked like a dog, threatening with harm.
“FUCK YOU! If you touch me again I’m gonna FUCKING KILL you I fucking swear it!”
No need to panic, Kayden. Plenty of leftovers in the fridge. Also…pigs…in…the...farm...
This was a tough bug but tears were beginning to spill from the man’s eyes and tit.

Blood in the hospital room.
Stuck in the middle with you.
Pickle the liver and the spleen.
Ohhh my, my little onion ring.

“Tell me all about your master.”
Flash steel, a blade can peel.
A man can howl. I can…feel…
“Tell me about…Cul Laaster…”

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

…Kayden…
……Kayden……
…Kayden…

Kayden.
Sawin?

Voices, voices in his head.
…Kayden…
A man hears a voice again.
KAYDEN.
Calling him, like a threat.
Kayden.
That voice that has bled.

In his dreams, while he sleeps.
The voice of a man, of a woman.
Voices of men, women and children.
They’re calling him and droids too, even.

Kayden. Kayden. Kayden.
Has a man forgotten them?
Voices of the living, of the dead.
Calling him, the man named Kayden.

…I…I can hear you…all...all of you…as I rest…
Is a man dead? Kayden, is it true, are you dead?
A man, but more than that, for Kayden, he is death.
You ruined us, Kayden, you bled us, stole our very breath.

Yes…all of them…for Kayden is a man who does not forget.
Even when he forgets, he is reminded, he remembers, at best.
He remembers screams, in his dreams, while he sleeps. Your flesh.
He can recall the skin, smooth as silk, or rough, some of it so…so wet.

…Kayden…Kayden…Kayden…Kayden...
A voice, it is his, his own. You’re a mess.
I have seen the stars. Kayden Skyler says.
I have seen their death. The universe’s heart.

Again. And again. And again. And again. And again.
He has seen the end of it all unfold, again, our Kayden.
With his own two eyes, with this third eye, while he rests.
When waking, watching the universe burn, in or out of bed.

I have counted the stars, witnessed the eclipse, and heard the suffering...
Misery, the voice mentions. Merciless, those questions. So…haunting.
It speaks of agony, of anguish, and all such adjectives, involving…flaying.
The experiments. On the dead. On AMS. All of them. The end...I shall...bring...

Of things, Kayden speaks, as if a dream’s voices should know just what he means.
They should, he thinks, for he has created them, in silence, on Silence, and gurneys.
He made them, paved them the way, in blood and pain, yes, Kayden gave them everything.
You are mine, you little shits, so split your lips and take to your knees for Kayden is…coming…

In fire, in blood, higher like an explosion. A Sith is…distant…different…for the Sith mean nothing.
To him, to Kayden, they are a means to an end, whether Order, whether Empire, they’re broken.
In his fist, Skyler grips emptiness, cradles the howls of infants, slipping away, as he slumbers.
Darkness…can we kiss? She does not answer him, that bitch. Leh’Min’Ayd… He remembers.

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Torture, some said, was far less effective than the threat of it.
A person would say anything to end all measure of suffering.
It took an interrogator like him to sift between truth and bullshit.
When all was said and done, well, there was little left for imagining.

At the edge of a blade…
This one drooled blood.
Unwoven, unclothed pain.
Flower sprouting from mud.

There were cadavers in the ship, some of them looking less like men or women.
Certainly far worse off than when they had come in and had boarded the Silence.
Echoes of the dead, swimming like fish in his head, but he will remember them.
Kayden Skyler did not kill for no reason. He took life with purpose. I won’t forget.

He had questions and had his way of asking them, like a fork and knife on a dinner plate.
You might ask him, he might tell you the truth, that he did what he did because he had to.
After all, the lion ate the gazelle to survive, and why blame the beast for enjoying its claim?
Only cowards and liars deny themselves the truth: that, ultimately, the galaxy was just food.

Bereft of skin, some of them, but their husks draped the walls of the starship’s hold and hull.
Bare of skin, Kayden was when he conducted his business, touching the fabric of the soul.
That was time ago. Moments of screams gave way to what silence brings and he moved.
He walked across a cold metal floor, washed his hands, found his clothes, and his boots.

Through the corridor, pacing the hallway of his freighter, Kayden Skyler reached the cockpit.
He moved his feet and found his seat, suddenly aware of the something that itched his cheek.
Yellow. Acidic substance. No, that was back in that factory on Thila. This liquid was a bit different.
Blood. It smeared a finger and it wasn’t his. Hers. His. They spilled their juices as they screamed.

All for this. All for me. So that Kayden Skyler could fly the sea, open his eyes and see.
In the vast ocean of space, he can stargaze, observe his fate and search for the gate.
You are...out there…somewhere…waiting...for me to break you…to take you…all for me…
Courtesy of a man who screamed out his secrets before he died, Kay knew the way.

Little fly.
Little fish.
Open the sky.
Let me swim.

After all, what were fins if not wings?
What was a song that refused to sing?
What was the Force if not an open door?
If we don’t dare to leap then what’s it all for?

Kayden was unafraid and unfazed by the rays of stars that forbade his heart.
They cried about how he was bizarre, too rude to move, with a twisted tune.
The stars were fools, he knew, like the Sith and their bullshit, for he had arms.
Had legs, wasn’t afraid to take, to walk, for Kayden would make Darkness talk.

Can you…hear me?
He stares out the viewport.
Darkness…can you…see..?
This galaxy is simply another door.

Kayden…one of these days…
Naked face…show me the way.
I’m going to cut you into little pieces.
Flay me? We’ll see. I hope you mean it.

Silence keeps her dark secrets as she flies.
Vibrant is her light kicked into hyperdrive.
Kayden is chasing other prey who will yell.
Scream for him, and feed him, in Gravenell.

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music

Memories.
They bleed.
A man sees.
And he thinks.
Of a dead sea.
Which he drinks.
The ancient spring.
That well of screams.
To him, they actually sing.
Their nightmare is his dream.
Unaware of the world he brings.
Death is birth for a universe in need.
A dirty world for a world so very clean.
Like a starship’s engine so very pristine.
A man is like a ship, yes, arms like wings.
Can fly the sky, swim the ocean, fins indeed.
Tears are like a potion, tropes of notion, believe.
Mindless, insanity, madness impacting his knees.
He stands, he sits, he lays, he wakes, yet he sleeps.

Madness..?
Asks a voice.
THIS. IS. DARKNEEEEEEEEEESS.
OHHHHH HOOOOOO YEEESSSSS.

Madness on the pads is a sadness for them lads.
A man is a madman as he glances back to his past.
There he is, there he goes, he floats, a ghost in black.
A black hole, a void, a naked soul, a voice that zigzags.

Round and round it goes, look at his arms and knees, spaghetti elbows!
Stretching a man like an aluminum can, metal scraping, and on it goes!
It doesn’t mean a thing when you’re a spaghetti strap string on a thread.
None of this makes any sense as a man does his best to comprehend.

Kayden?
WHAT IS IT?
You’re a lunatic.
I AM THAT IS.

Darkness.
Can we kiss?
What a bitch.
YOU’RE A FISH.

Spiraling, gliding as he is, Kayden Skyler flying higher into the Voight-Kampff test.
That experiment used to determine whether this man is actually just a replicant.
If he’s a man to begin with, maybe he’s a giant buzzing gnat, with a smiling head.
Move the flyswatter, twirl and whirl like Luke Skywalker, as juicy as a little Leh'Min.

A man is flying, floating, dying, roasting, burning alive in the twilight of a dead star.
Round and round around a black hole, a tadpole, a sperm, a worm, no Death Star.
Grab it. Han Solo. Panic. Hands own both. Ham sandwich. It’s in the frakking ship!
Nobody knows this man has blown the way of the dodo though, so better pack it in.

Manic, there’s the doctor at the door, that fast spin of the event horizon, that is, yes.
Gigantic, a big black dish that’s titanic in proportion, swerves, serves as the door.
Again, and again and again, a man straps in as he’s pulled in toward it, like death.
Alive or dead, a man can only guess, for he has no mouth and he wishes to roar.

Kayden?
You again?
Where are you going?
Into the void, I’m floating.
I’M FUCKING VOMITING.

Kay gazes at his own face reflected at the gate of the black hole.
The mask is slipping. Galaxy is a fantasy, a mirror of a dark soul.
The pit. Blood dripping. That mouth is going to swallow him whole.
A man flips, he spins, over and over again, locked in an infinite roll.

KAYDEN.
KAMELLE.
FLAY THEM.
DAMN HELL.

The universe is calling to him, calling to Kayden, to claim him.
He cannot ignore it, he listens, torn in two as he is, so naked.
Skinned, to the bone, to the brain, bringing forth all that pain.
He sleeps, he wakes, to a world that calls this man insane.

For…this..isn’t…Kayden's…fate…
He…goes…in...to…Gravenell…
Not…just…to…ring…a bell…
But…to…cure…his…face…

I’m all alone in hell…
Secrets in Gravenell…
And I need to cure me…
Oh I need…to break…free…

She laughs at him, Darkness.
Laughs, but still she will kiss.
Kayden kinda forgot his mirror image.
That his face is that of a FUCKING FISH.

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Fish…a fish…a fisherman…fishing in…the ocean…
What is it? That black expanse? That deep blue sea?
That vast span of nothingness where even stars bleed.
It puts it in, puts it on, again, again, the blood and the lotion.

In the cockpit of his vessel, his freighter, his ship, called Silence.
A man ushered it in, witnessed it, demanded it, enjoyed the quiet.
After all, how could they speak if they had no tongue to talk to him?
His crew couldn’t defy him, couldn’t complain, couldn’t ask questions.

They were his, all of them, he made them, and he would make more.
It didn’t take much, whether men, women, children, to open the door.
Others did, other Sith, like Vitiate, Bane, Sidious, Vader, in the Force.
The Sith of old, in the dark, in the cold; now, after, or those of before.

The Sith of today, of the future, it did not matter, like dying whispers.
They were alive, they were dead, in flesh, in memory, the darksiders.
The dark side is what they used, they eschewed any other weakness.
Spitting on light, gripped power in their fist and kissed the darkness.

The new, the old, they flew, so bold, unfettered by the shackles of a Jedi.
Determined to fly, to fight, with wings, like beasts, whether laugh or cry.
Ancestors, predecessors, but a true Sith relishes the truth of the night.
Bane, Raze, Renfry, Revan, Plagueis, Nihilus—all were doomed to die.

One knew what those could only hope to. Knowledge, claim and stake.
He saw it, he glimpsed it, like a comet in an instant, frozen in the lake.
It saw him, both knew it, owned the moment, like hot breath on face.
Despite the pain, he couldn’t complain, for wings would win a race.

I can…fly…high…in the…sky…
In his seat, a man is yet floating.
I am…bright…like…starlight…
Truthfully, rather than gloating.

Kayden…
I am here.
Kayden…
I am here.

A voice speaks, though it doesn’t listen.
Drifting from his seat, levitating Kayden.
From cockpit canopy, through a corridor.
Floating, gliding, that bird above the floor.

Fish. Bird. What does it matter? I deserve the universe.
Big bang, big bad, the universe was at one point birthed.
He was in it, in flesh and spirit, by the dust of a cataclysm.
He was not alone, they don’t know it, blinded in their prison.

“That circle...so round...the upside down...I speak...but I am...weak...”
Like a thousand daggers pricking his flesh and poking at his heartbeat.
In the dark, in the cold, in the bright heat of a starship that now unfolds.
Peels back the fabric of space and time, like skin, like tissue, yet so untold.

The secrets of reality, maybe they carry his feet and tickle his toes, as he floats.
A man, beckoning to be heard, to be seen, a greeting by Her Majesty, disrobed.
Corridor after corridor, from knees to elbows, beaming with a shadow in his boat.
If words have no meaning, let it be his, as feelings are weightless, emotions probed.

Silence. Not Wailing. This ship, it was his, it wasn’t hers, was not his sister’s, not that bitch.
Maybe she would remember him, but she was too dead to remember him, lacking in vision.
I remember you. Corridor, a man drifts through. Your attitude. Your whisper. Your eyes. Your lips.
He remembers another too, Kayden closes his own eyes, never really open. Ah, yes. Laeonas....

The child of children, a mile over a hill of the dead, that’s what he pictured, thinking of them.
There in the dark water, brother’s heart, trapped in the in between of time and reality, or death.
Dead. Am I...dead? A man wonders, questions, imagines, as Kayden’s starship beckons him ahead.
Perhaps he is just a corpse or a roar in the Force, a silent echo, seeking long lost time already spent.

Kayden…
What is it?
I can feel you…
I can feel you…too.

If Darkness is a woman, he will take her.
If Darkness is a prison, he will break her.
It takes a weapon to conquer, fight, burn.
Like Kayden Skyler; quite like a lightsaber.

“...Where…are...you…taking…me..?”
A man asks the force while sleeping.
No answer, nothing, as he is floating.
Darkness, silence, in a deep black sea.

…You thought you would see me…yet your eyes cannot see…
…My…eyes…my eyes…you cannot hide…for....I…see…you…
…You cannot see…you cannot breathe…you cannot move…
…I…will try…I shall fight…consuming you is my…destiny…
…Kay, you cannot comprehend how much danger I bring…
…I flay the living, I peel the strings, steal stranger things…

A man, naked, Kayden, sees a sky, bloody, burning, bright.
He sees explosions, world by the dozen, in a frozen time.
Floating in his ship, broken, he splits, screams, and cries.
And a man begins to see a sea of his very own two eyes.

Spoiler

 

[Kayden Skyler]

A question, Kayden.
Do you like raisins?
No, idiot. For you.
Ask. I’ll tell truth.
Oh, I am sure.
I am—that is.
Do you see it?
Uhh see what, sir?
Do you remember?
Ah yes…that moment.
With that sweet ocean.
Salty breeze. That wind.
Scent of fish. White wine.
I remember both of those.
Yes, I remember…Laeonas.

Spoiler: Music IC

A long time ago in a place far away...​

It is a known planet. It wasn’t unknown by any means but no need for it in this memory.
Wherever he is in this moment, whether Kayden Skyler is in a ship, beyond the cockpit.
In a black hole of an already dark galaxy, maybe, where worlds die, and the stars bleed.
In another moment, a memory takes him, he remembers—that is, if Darkness is honest.

Ocean in the distance, stretching beyond the horizon, as beautiful as reality as it warps.
A bit like a fish, maybe, is that sweet scent of sweat in the breeze from a woman’s skin.
Slice of thigh, white dress, split garment, ripe breasts, bared in a V. Like her legs, 'course.
She looked ready, sitting there in her chair, gazing over balcony, staring into the distance.

She isn’t his, not the one man watching her, her long auburn hair over shoulder, rippling.
She can be in a moment, really. Just one twitch. One kiss. Red lipstick. Could be bleeding.
Fuck it. At the restaurant, on the balcony, he got up from his own seat, and walked over.
She had a white dress, leg over another. He had a white shirt, crisp collar, black trousers.

They aren’t alone. There were other patrons amid sunlight soon to die but not quite twilight.
Couples had come to end their day with fine dining, sipping on wine and eating fish and cake.
One couple had even taken to the dance, as a woman sang a poetic language from the stage.
“An empty seat,” he spoke. “All alone.” She didn’t look. He didn’t expect her to. “If not lonely."

“Oh? I suppose that’s how you want me to know you’d like to sit down, right?” The lady sighed.
“Nope,” the man answered, sliding his hands on the railing, standing by the table. “I’m all right.”
Neither spoke the next moment, gazing toward the horizon at a shy sunset. She broke silence.
“Looks like you’re no less alone.” Casual tone. If yet weary. Like ancient oak in a smoking garden.

“And no more lonely,” he agreed. One hand free, other with glass of wine, they sip same time.
“Well at least you’re not blocking my view, so I won’t tell you to move.” He could hear her grin.
“I’m not in the business of interrupting anyone’s moment with an ocean like this.” He didn’t lie.
“It’s a nice restaurant...but nothing next to this ocean. Just a pinprick.” He turned. “I'm Kayden.”

He didn’t bother offering his hand for her to shake, just propped an elbow on the railing, leaning.
Did not ask her name, looking away from her face the next moment, catching her doing the same.
“Aren’t we all? Just dots on some other horizon?” O how you have no idea. That’s why we all scream.
“Yes and no.” Kayden shrugged. “Alone. Lonely. We’re more like ghosts just waiting to fade away.”

Both man and woman looked away from the ocean that same moment, eyes into eyes.
“Mariah,” she finally gave her name. The breeze tickled her hair as it danced on her cheek.
“Well, here’s to two naked souls so exposed to an ocean that doesn’t care if we live or die.”
“Naked?” She grinned, lifted her glass in a deeper sip. “Hope you’re not trying to hit on me.”

You got no idea, miss.
No, O flayer of men?
NO! NO! MY LIPS.
KAYDEN. KAYDEN.

Force persuasion? Didn't need it. If Kayden can be a gentleman. I am that is.
"Is that why you are here nearing evening? To be hit on or to be left alone?"
"Both." Her turn to shrug. "Neither. Figure I'd try to be just like that ocean."
Curious. Yes, I agree. "Boundless..." "Free." "Just drifting along in the wind..."

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music IC

As a sweet sea breeze greets his skin, a man wonders, yes, like a fish after it first discovered violence.
You are a fish, Kayden... A man is a shark in a dark ocean. Be quiet, you bitch. He gazes into the horizon.
The music shifted. Drums once so quaint tapped into a rhythm that itched with lyrics. Scratch that itch.
As the sky, vibrant in evening’s light, sings a song of reality’s impossibilities, a man’s right eye twitched.

“Enough of this.” Words were wind. He speaks gently despite his sentence. Turns his head to her.
“Excuse me?” She blinked. Her eyebrow, crescent as a faded moon in blackness, just then lifted.
He looks from it to the other. That singular sliver of thin hair. Feminine. FISH, Kayden. FISH. Fish.
Oh, he could shut her up, he knows. Both. Could peel her skin in an instant. Lick it . . . You are a curse.

“Dance with me. While there is still light in the sky.” Oh, he could have cast Force Dance. Mind tricked.
But he didn’t. Kayden didn’t want to play with this woman in that way. He simply gazed into her face.
Her skin so porcelain. Dolls in your basement. Auburn hair bare as autumn. I have to return holo-tapes.
Her figure certainly slimmer than his. Whisper on her skin. Then EAT IT. Might his mask simply slip?

“As you wish.” There was no hint of lie in her eyes as she gave him hers and he gave her his.
Hers were grey. They matched her skin like her hair matched her red lips. We exist…for this.
His were black. Darkness kissed by a black hole. That circle so round! LOUD AND PROUD.
“Take my hand.” A request. A command. Beckon the bitch. Fingers slip into his. We dance...

Kayden didn’t wait. Didn’t delay. He captured the moment like a fracture in an ocean. She was his.
They weren’t alone in their endeavor. Others were dancing too amid dinner. They did not matter.
They were pinpricks of existence. Kayden flayed lesser men and women for less. A WAREHOUSE.
His hand on her hip. Other in her hand. Hers on his shoulder. Other in his hand. Scared. Mouse.

They began to dance. She had the face of a goddess.
His image was already given. But reality was haunted.
In the end, perhaps real life characters bear little ethic.
Ethics!? Oh you crazy fuck... So maybe Kay looks like this.

 

[Mariah Boucheron]

Spoiler: Music IC (Recurring)

It was an oddity if not odd, really. Maybe that confusion was just what manifested as her feelings.
Maybe that itself was confusing. Maybe moments away from now she would think back about it.
Analyze, reanalyze, remember and wonder. What was not so unusual was a man and a woman.
Two strangers bumping into each other in the outside air of this restaurant overlooking the sea.

Romantic, really. Typical. Not unusual. It happened in fantasy as much as reality. There they are.
A man. A woman. A restaurant. Once she sat as he stood. But now they both stand hand in hand.
Odd. To think she had come here not expecting to meet anybody. Wasn’t looking to find his heart.
Nobody’s. Even though she had one of her own, she had come to be alone by the sea, and to relax.

So odd a thing… She thought, standing in her white dress. Rich fabric. Perhaps more than his.
Honestly… She felt so silly the very moment he had spoken, so intrigued by his tone, his spirit.
Audacious, more or less, but he proved to be no idiot. Conversation of oceans. Talk of the wind.
So silly… It's all the lady could do to think with her hand on his shoulder and with his on her hip.

Kayden. So plain a name. What's his surname? Did it carry weight like hers? Was he famous?
It didn’t matter. She wasn’t looking for famous. She wasn’t looking for rich. Not for anything.
Her name was Mariah Boucheron, and her family was fortunate, but they're long forgotten.
For, in this moment, he had her, entrapped her. Eyes into eyes. Hand in hand. And they dance.

It began slow and steady, yet as rhythmic as the waves of the sea beneath their prancing feet.
A spring to their step, yet they weren’t alone in their endeavor; others stepped beside them.
Yet, all she saw was him. All she felt was his skin. All she heard was the music. And his breath.
Silent, but as loud as passion’s kiss, and they hadn’t even kissed. They were calm as the sea.

The music picked up. They separated, if intentionally. Their dance demanded some space.
Others did the same. They read each other’s minds. Moved as a unit. Shoulders side by side.
Her heart raced. Strange. Calmed it. Stop it. Stop thinking. Turned. Smiled in each other’s face.
Hands up. Twisting side to side. They connect. Forearms lock. It is already an interesting night.

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music IC (Recurring)

Hey. Kay. Can you hear me?
Sometimes he isn’t listening.
I can hear you. How are you?
Yet right now he is. To her too.

They begin with fingers in fists.
Kay had broken many like this.
In this instance it is sweetness.
Gentle with her. Like those lips.

Stepping to the rapid rhythm of drums.
Tapping steadily and gently as the sea.
Dancing side by side, smiling, as one.
The music picks up. She is so...pretty.

His hand lifts hers as they spin together.
I’m okay. As always. But what about you?
Slowly turning. It isn’t some wild dance.
Doing great. I like this one. I like her hands.

They were delicate and feminine. Slender fingers.
Vandor told me the truth. Oh Josh, please do not talk.
Oh. Those. Yeah their voices could often just pop.
Sometimes he did not mind it. He was their owner.

Other times he just wants silence. Quite like his ship.
Silence. It was his. Be quiet, you little shits. I am...busy...
Busy having the time of his life. Twist hand side to side.
Kayden had twisted many hands. Broken bone. All alone.

He had slipped his member into many insides. Also his knife.
Between that topmost layer of skin and the tissue beneath it.
And peeled... PEELED IT. LIKE FABRIC. YOU. FUCKING. PRICK.
Ah, yes…the voices in his head…they never did forgive him…

A woman sings, not in his head. It is the singer of this establishment.
To the drums that pump his blood up. To the strings sweet as a teat.
The man and woman step closer together. His whisper on her cheek.
“You dance wonderfully.” Kayden’s smiling eye didn’t lie. He meant it.

LIAR. Right. There was another eye. And step. Left. Right. HIDE. AND LIE.
As the music gets more lively, they dance closer, but he spins her away.
You won’t get away with it! Monster! Look at my daughter! He didn’t listen.
Busy dancing, smiling, watching her. Wiggling waving fingers. Happy face.

Twirls her back to him.
Hand at back of waist.
The moment he takes.
Silence. A sudden kiss.

 

[Mariah Boucheron]

Spoiler: Music IC (Recurring)

The music picked up. Up. Up. With each beat, she can’t keep from wondering why her heart leaps.
No understanding it in those moments. The activity, surely. The act of dancing, that was her theory.
Stop thinking, she had told herself, and truly she is mostly so focused on moving that she can’t think.
But only a liar denies the truth of it. Tries to hide in the shadows so close. In a hole. Yes. She is falling.

Yet she doesn't look away. He has her gaze. Entrapping. Damn. Those eyes. Enticing. Oh, no denying.
Dark. Black. Like obsidian. Then like chocolate the next instant. They turned just like the very dancers.
With me now. She commanded him in silence. Her fingers curling into his and pulling her in toward her.
Drums. Other percussion instruments. Strings. Lady singing. But this here lady is quiet. No longer hiding.

Closer. Together. Damn he is a good dancer. Closer. His face is inches away. Then came his whisper.
“You dance wonderfully.” She didn’t know what to say so simply grinned at him. Gave nothing away.
Decided to challenge his compliment with a gentle if firm twist of his wrist, tugging him into her pace.
Dancers around them, yet this was their stage, their moment. Unshaven. He looked good with whiskers.

Her spread lips never faded. Heart races to the music.
His turn to twist her wrist—spin her into the distance.
She smiles wide now. Even on the verge of laughing.
His hand on her back. Then she was barely standing.

Before she could even gasp, he leaned her backward.
Before Mariah could even laugh, she felt herself dip.
Eyes open. Closed in an instant. Forget the universe.
Time—space—meaningless. Just gave into his kiss.

The music takes Mariah away. And so does Kayden.
She came to this place to escape, gaze at an ocean.
A stranger gave her more than that in only moments.
Whatever happened next, this dance became a haven.

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music IC

Silence. There was a reason behind the madness. An unspoken agreement of why he needed it.
Silence. That was the name of his ship. Ironic. Most who were in it never spoke to him. But pleaded.
They didn’t need to speak if they had no tongues to speak with. Though they didn’t have much choice.
Yet he heard them all the same. Sometimes the eyes were louder than words. A lonely, lonely voice…

There was music at that restaurant. Beautiful. Wondrous. Reminiscent of some distant timeless dimension.
An echo of eternity. Echoes...of memories… Whispers from the sea. Alone in an ocean…offer no hesitation...
If Kayden hesitated then what would happen to his existence? If he shied away, what may become of him?
If a star becomes a shadow, swallowed by a black hole, that circle so round, can I still dream without wings?

A man wonders these things when alone or even when in company. The company of a woman.
She was not his. Not to begin with. Yet maybe she always was. Maybe she was always Kayden’s.
She led him in with her skin, her hair, her eyes. They danced. Then she let him into her apartment.
Yet he led her in, she just didn’t know it. He didn’t mean their dance. He let her feel his very hand.

She was rich. It was an easy assessment made based on the fabric of her dress and also her residence.
She had that manner about her. That look like she had come from credits. Whatever her actual status.
Didn’t matter to him. Her apartment wasn’t far from the restaurant. Light still in the sky. Now it is night.
She opened the door. He moved forth. Following behind. She didn’t turn but she turned on some music.

Violin. Piano. Drums. No vocals this time. Not loud enough to disturb the locals. How Kayden loved it.
“What song is this?” He might have started their conversation with something else. He denied himself.
“Dance With The Night Wind.” She replied while moving to the kitchen. Past black marble table. Silver chairs.
“Poetic.” “Is it? There are no lyrics.” “The name.” “Oh okay. Maybe it is. Can I offer you a drink?” Yank her hair.

Kayden isn't listening. If he listened to every fucking voice in his head then his head would be in a void.
“Do you have wine?” He asked her rather politely as he entered the kitchen behind her. DEAD. NOISE.
“Wine. Whiskey. Vodka. Sherry. Port.” MORE. TOYS. “Take your pick.” She picked hers. A gin and tonic.
“Whiskey. You pick.” She did with a grin. “Tesabelle’s Isle. Red Collection. The best.” Ah. An alcoholic.

No, maybe a former one, but back in that restaurant she had hardly touched her drink. She is strong.
We like strong women. Yes. We do. No. Not you. STOP HIM. STOP IT. It took effort to easily block it.
“You know your poison,” he smiled at her, stepped closer, their glasses on the counter, inching fingers.
Itchy fingers. Idiot. Obviously. That’s what happens when Kayden takes the skin AWAY FROM THEM.

He sipped his whiskey.
As she sipped her gin.
Eyes into eyes. Staring.
And then they kissed.

Oh. I do know this.
He knows its lyrics.
Just like the ocean.
Just like...Darkness...

The world is teeming with unnecessary people
As knight of honor, as a protector of the seal
I sacrifice myself to the blood of criminals
He Who Fights Monsters. Most Heroic Jedi.
White Knight
Yeah right.

 

[Mariah Boucheron]

Spoiler: Music IC (Recurring)

If she had the chance, any moment from then to now, she would look back, analyze it, address it.
Wonder how. Somehow, right? How it happened. That to this. Ocean. Restaurant. Sky. Apartment.
Everything had happened so fast. From sitting in silence, solace, solitude, to dancing with that man.
His white shirt. Her white dress. She was attractive. So was he. They saw it in each other. They danced.

First with their words. With their lips. With their eyes. With their very presence. Then with limbs.
Again with their lips. They kissed. They gave in. Oh, he was forward, forceful, gentle, so passionate.
He could dance. He could kiss. He had a unique demeanor about him, with his speech; not eccentric.
Not exactly. He wasn’t so quirky. He just wasn’t afraid to use his brain, speak from mind, heart, feeling.

Maybe that’s what she needed all this time. Maybe that’s what Mariah Boucheron is looking for.
But what about him? What did he want out of all this? Her skin? Her flesh? Her heart? Her mind?
She would find out. He led her in. She let him in. She wasn’t his. Although she did open the door.
She moved forward. He followed behind. Her gaze on the floor. Uncertain. Nervous. So she hides.

Can’t let him see her for who she truly is. She was a strong woman, she had to be, never mind rich.
If weak... Across the carpet. Step on intricate images. Red squids. Golden fish. Her gaze is so distant.
Can’t get distracted. He was given an invitation. He wanted it. She wanted him. Caution. Not hesitant.
She wasn’t afraid of him. She was afraid of it. This situation. The excitement. No. You can’t just hide it...

Violent. Her emotions were known to be. At least in private. Quite passionate. Even despite her rigidness.
Hadn’t yet shown it. Except when they kissed. When he dipped her backward. You closed your eyes, girl...
Her heart raced then. Just as it did now. What was it? How did he do it? Why him? Why is he different?
A girl can only wonder. The woman. Queue the music to set the mood as she moves into the kitchen.

Dance With The Night Wind. You like this. You find peace in it. It was soothing. Tranquility. If melancholy.
Dancing was such a very lovely thing. So many dances. One can dance in darkness. Or with darkness…
“What song is this?” “Poetic.” Distracted, opening cupboard only to close it. “Is it? There are no lyrics.”
You want it. Top shelf. Bottom shelf. You want that sip. You want that taste. “You pick.” “Red Collection.”

Red like her carpet. Red like the blood that pumped in her veins. She pours him a glass of whiskey.
She liked her gin and tonic. Classy, after a fashion. An amalgamation of gin and tonic water, simply.
Maybe it made her feel better about herself. It isn’t straight up liquor. It was the best of both worlds.
Is that what we are? A man? A woman? From separate universes? Whoever that boy was, and this girl.

She sipped her gin.
He sipped whiskey.
Her eyes…into his.
Yet again...kissing.

Music plays from the stereo. So close. So far away. Like that ocean. Tidal waves breaking inside her.
Erupting. Stop him. A voice pleads within her. Stop it. She doesn’t listen. She wants it. She wants him.
So she pulls him in. Forget the drinks. That glass can smash for all she cares. Chest. Breast. Kayden…
Her hand leaves the glass. Her fingers fill those spaces between his. Interlacing. Crazy… Echoes burn.

Free fingers fiddle with his shirt, linger on his hip. Whatever riddle this is, she doesn’t want to solve it.
His other hand grasps her shoulder. Felt like he was holding a peach. He squeezed. Fingers venture.
Travel up her skin. All the while her eyes are closed. Lips don’t part. Breath climbs. Like his fingers.
Slide up the crook of her neck. Thumb grazing on her cheek. Passion. Hers revolves around his.

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music IC

The whiskey was rich. He savored the taste of it. Flavor profile was complex. Nuanced. Different.
This really wasn’t cheap by any means. A sweet burn. Caramel. Spiced. Hints of vanilla. Smooth.
He licked his lips. Though that was last moment. Seconds ticked. Forget the drink. They kissed.
Her lips tasted better than any whiskey, cheap or expensive. Delicious. Lips. Tongue. Tooth too.

Moments. Moments mattered. Seconds. Minutes. Not the latter. The former, however? Everything.
The seconds were what counted. They passed with the heartbeat. Traveled with the pulse. Voyage.
There were no minutes here. There were no hours. Days went with yesterday. Nights meant nothing.
Years. Centuries. They pass in the blink of an eye. Behind twilight. Before sunrise. Choices. Choiceless.

Her warm lips. Like tulips. Trap his. Soft. Softer than the fabric of her dress. Part. Allow his tongue in.
More of this. He wanted more. So did she. Beyond whiskey. Beyond a cup of coffee. Feel it. Her skin.
He did. He felt her fingers wrap around his hip, dance with his shirt, lift it. His own hand slid up her.
Her shoulder. Surfing the ocean. Dancing all over again. Firm grip. Caressing. Blood sings. Further.

His hand slides upward. She can feel the weight of it on her neck, but he doesn’t squeeze it.
Choke. Even as his fingers wrap around her throat, tickle the nape. Flay. Kayden won’t give in.
Heads tilt. Eyes peeled. No, they close. She’s terrified. He can feel it. He isn’t. Though petrified.
Frozen. No motion. The ocean. Hands ride. Tongue slides. Lips gallop like a steed. Be a stallion.

His thumb roams her cheek. It’s as soft as he expected it to be. As he wanted. Though also cold.
Like pale ice. Or were those memories he was feeling? Because this woman’s skin is yet burning.
She’s on fire. He could taste it in her saliva, hear it in her breath and feel it in her thumping chest.
Can’t breathe through the mouth like this. I have no mouth and I want to scream... Voices. Death.

So they breathe through the nose. That proves to be a challenge. His chest rises. Her breast.
Covered by her dress. She was modest. She wasn’t some harlot. Not so modest. He is honest.
Her heart threatens to explode into his. Rip the ribs. Finally, she parts from him. A fatal mistake.
Kayden doesn’t hesitate. He seizes the opportunity. Now his hands are on her hips. TAKE. TAKE.

He won’t wait. Her eyes grow wide, penetrate into his, as if she was launched atop some horse.
A dead horse. You chopped its head off in one of your rages, Kayden. Not listening. Not anymore.
His hands are on her hips now. He lifts her onto the counter. Her legs on either side of his hips.
They catch their breath yet it lasts a second. They kiss again. Fingers up stomach. Breasts. Music.

It shifted. Was it on purpose? Did she intend it? Dance With The Night Wind had ended.
This next song was different. A violin, slow as snow, soft as skin, crescendo, decrescendo.
Like heartbeats, he thinks. No, like passion. Passion! All that passion! Lips break away again.
Another violin as if in a union. Dancing violins. Weeping skins. Lips shift from lips to her throat.

She gasps to a crash of glass. Pulls her head back. Unknown if her eyes close, open. Gushing.
He isn’t looking at her eyes. His eyes are on her neck. That’s where his tongue sails. The ocean.
“And this?” His speech seemed unprompted. Toneless. As flat as grass trampled by that stallion.
“What song is this?” Silence. She whispers. Louder. “Ohhh…” She breathes. "You Know Nothing...”

 

[Mariah Boucheron]

Spoiler: Music IC (Recurring)

Pilots. Ships. A simple science behind it. Yet science can be relative. Thoughts can be mindless.
If this apartment is her ship, if the man and the woman within it are in a relationship, why hide it?
Autopilot. That’s what her mind is in. That’s where her heart is. Flying forward. Driving toward him.
She has him. She knows it. He has her too. He shows it. Moisturized by mouth’s muscle. So scientific.

Is she an idiot? Stop it. Stop thinking. He isn’t making her but actually trying to keep her from thinking.
So she gives in. No, she already gave into him. Into Kayden. Fingers beneath his shirt. She’s feeling.
The skin on his stomach was smooth. His muscles were not. His abdomen was hard. Keep dreaming.
If this was a dream, if this woman is asleep, if Mariah Boucheron was lost, then so be it. Okay. Take me!

Thumb on cheek. His touch was warm. He cradled her face in his firm grip. Yet his touch is cold.
It was an odd feeling. Like there was ice hiding behind his skin even if it was so hot on its surface.
She didn’t think about it. Any thoughts that crossed her mind were instantaneous. Then forgotten.
Like her breath. There one second. Gone the next. Stupid. Idiot. Maybe both of them. Now he’s bold.

Bolder. Stronger. Harder. Faster. His heart was thumping in his chest, pounding against her breasts.
Any moment now. She knows it. Any moment and she’s going to break. Has to escape. Don’t wait.
Has to breathe. Has to remove herself from his grip as it tightens. And so Mariah rips away her lips.
Should she say something? Pause? Stop? Talk? Ask? Interrogate? He didn’t hesitate. Grips her waist.

Ohh…shit! Suddenly the breath was lost in her chest. It is as if time stops. As if the universe has paused.
It is an instant. Like her thoughts. Fragments. Broken. Her eyes grow wide open. Burning into Kayden’s.
Then her heart throbs again. She knows what tingles beneath. So for him it must pulse no different.
She opens her lips, not to kiss, but to say something, anything, to prevent this. Didn’t. Can’t. Stop...

No, she won’t. She wanted this. So was her body betraying her? Whatever. She opens the gate to passion.
She lets go. Becomes numb. He doesn’t. Picks her up. He plunges her onto the counter like some doll.
Not thoughts, not even emotions, but an ocean of maddening energy rushes over her. Her legs wrap him.
Wrap hips. Shin crosses calf. Legs lock. Hands shift along counter’s surface. Glass cracks. Fingers crawl.

They kiss. She throws her arms around his neck. Pulling him into her. She won’t let him go. She can’t.
There’s something stirring in her. Coiling. Like the galaxy is suddenly pulsating, quaking within her.
For him, surely it can’t be any different. She feels him. She feels it. Slides her fingers. Raking his back.
Encouraged, emboldened, shivers up her stomach, he bites back, crushing her breasts. They burn.

Don’t hurt. Beneath her dress, which suddenly feels heavy as it does featherweight, skin hardens.
Her mountains become as hard as rock at the tips in instants as the skin around them shrinks up.
She tilts her head, beckoning teeth on her neck, not even realizing she can breathe that moment.
His kiss is different. Suddenly so hungry. Thirsty. As if he wanted her flesh, her skin, and her blood.

“And this?” He spoke but she didn’t listen. She didn’t hear his voice. His words are just noise.
“What song is this?” What!? What song!? Who cares!? But no response. Only silence. Only joy.
“Ohhh…” She breathes. “You Know Nothing…” Her hips careen. Her legs squeeze. “Just take me.”
Damn. Just shut up. Do it already! She commanded him. Didn’t need to. Kayden felt no differently.

“As you wish.” His fingers brush the skin on her thighs. An electric current jolts through her body.
He lifts her dress. No, he flips it. “No!” Mariah commanded. Beckoned. “N-Not here…” She sighed.
Like a calm before the storm. Or an eye in a hurricane. “Bed. My bed.” Leans her head. Kisses calmly.
Nibbling his ear. “Take me to my bed, Kayden…” Can’t look him in the eyes yet. The galaxy? Goodbye.

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music IC

Time. How is it defined? What is the science behind it? A concept. Proven. Is it endless? Is it infinite?
Light. A fading light. Dying. Naked. It hides. Behind the eyes. Like life. What is this? Tell me what this is.
He isn’t like her. He isn’t like most. He can’t teach her. Can’t show her. What he is beneath the surface.
A man can’t keep from thinking. Maybe he can. The voices, however, won’t stop. What is time to an ant?

Words. Words curve. Words burn. Arc. As sharp as scimitars. Just as curved. Cruel. Wicked. Bad.
Maybe time is like a sea? Pitiless, that’s what he is. Merciless. Does he have to be? Like an ocean.
Swirling. Whirling. Twirling. A Jedi has light. A Sith has darkness. Limitless. Liquid. Fluid. It’s a lotion.
On the skin. In the mouth. Her spit. His. Something else. A well within. Stirring. What is time to a man?

What is a man in definition? Is it Kayden? Stupid question. I am that is. Though he never did ask for this.
The universe just couldn’t, or wouldn’t, understand him. Never asked him to begin with. Where do I begin?
A monster. A shark in the ocean. No. You are a fish, Kayden. She told him. Shut up, bitch. Oh do forgive him.
He has an itch. He needs to scratch. It’s constant. Like a migraine that just won’t go away. I don’t give a shit.

“Take me to my bed, Kayden…” Her lips brush his ear, like some mare nuzzling the hand of her master.
“As you wish.” He’s quiet. But he is a stallion. Bold. Cold. Hot. In black rock bound. In darkness wrought.
He picks her up. If he is a fish, fuck it, she is a crab. Legs wrapped around his hips. So damn tight. So taut.
Her arms around his neck. Her cheek pressed against his cheek. No sweat yet. That’ll change. They’ll burn.

Silence. Save for the music. It changed again while Kayden takes her away. Chest to breast. Hip on hip.
Hands slip beneath thighs. Firm grip. Dangerously close to her backside. She stirs. Welcomes it.
The music. Can’t forget it, Kayden. He won’t. Neither these moments. Time isn’t infinite. Yet it is insulin.
Poison is the cure. He has a need. A disease. If freedom is a curse, there he is. Music. I must listen.

Forward. Out of the kitchen. Every footstep is like an echo. Every breath is like a wave, like a current.
Down the hallway. I’ve got you, my lady. Hugging. Holding. I’ll take you away, baby. Just watch him.
Moments. Music. Beginning as drums. Gentle bumps. Delicate thuds. Trombone. Tuba. Trumpet.
An assortment of synths. Piano and percussion. Guitar. Her legs in his arms. Onward. Toward her bed.

Amid the violin they didn’t rush it despite the blood that rushes. Neither were they slow like the cello.
In the midst of his violence, does he even have any room for love? Was it stupid to envision it though?
They had only just met, this man and woman, but to him it was like they had already met, were known.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Not far now. Forth. To the edge of the dark corridor. Hard to keep going. Door.

“Open it.” She commanded. Oh, Kayden Skyler wasn’t one to be commanded by anyone. Except for her.
“Okay.” He whispered, planting a kiss on her cheek, catching how it made her shiver there and beneath.
Excitement. Can’t hide. Can’t deny it. It would be like hiding in the ocean, proclaiming there is no water.
Door opens. There’s a chest. An HV. A set of dressers. Table. Chairs. Settee. Bathroom door. I want her...

Yet only one object gets the attention of Kayden.
Only one thing in the room that actually matters.
Only one sliver in a time offered by this universe.
Like a slice of pie. Covers. Two colors. Grey. Red.

Red blanket. Red sheets. Grey pillows. Don’t let go...
He won’t. He doesn’t. He steps. Sets her on the bed.
No need to climb inside it. Nah. Kayden climbs atop it.
No. Not it. Her. Legs spread. “Come closer...” They kiss...

 

[Mariah Boucheron]

Spoiler: Music IC (Recurring)

Time? Time can die. Like this galaxy. Let the universe burn, she might think. Silly. Give her a moment.
This isn’t the time to think, she thinks. Cast that concept aside. Thoughts. All minds are empty vessels.
Her stomach tickles. Her insides are like butterflies. Time is infinite to her. A moment trapped in an ocean.
If they live, if they die tonight, they will salute, wave goodbye. Like gladiators about to fight. About to wrestle.

From now to then, then to now, from planet to moon, from spaceship to space station, time is infinite.
Permit it. Permitted. Mariah Boucheron. Kayden Whatever. Didn’t know his surname. Yet he existed.
Plenty of time to learn, right? So let this moment be, she may think. Give it to her. Come to me, Kayden.
Maybe it was all a lie in the end. Maybe, thinking back, she's just lying to herself. Deception. Inception.

Planting an idea in the mind. She might think this. But only in hindsight. Because time is relative. Fluid.
In reality, she stopped thinking moments ago. Her thoughts flew out the window. Spread wings. A bird.
Her heart is pumping. Her blood is rushing. She lays there, on her bed, thirsting, starving, rushing fluids.
Whatever the universe thinks of her, it doesn’t mean a damn thing. Only him. Only her. Only they matter.

“Come to me…” She doesn’t command him. She bids him. She begs him. Pleads. Knows he’ll listen.
He says nothing. No more ‘As you wish’. Not even a whisper. Just moves. Just looks. Gives her silence.
Yet his eyes…those eyes…louder than a supernova. And brighter than a star despite being so dark.
Vibrant. Violent. Wide as hers were. Her chest rises. Lowers. She’s afraid. If brave. Aware of her heart.

It beats to the beats of the music as it permeates her apartment. Oh let it pulsate the fucking building.
They lock gazes. It is the staredown of history. As if two opposing armies finally lower sabers, blasters.
She shifts her legs. Feels the sheets beneath, the cloth soft on her soft skin. Bites her lip. Heads tilting.
Bites his lip. Nibbles it. Feels his weight on her. Pressing in. Downward. Good. He was all that matters.

He can have her. Take her. Break her. She'd been broken already. He would see. Nothing unusual there.
But what she’s feeling? A quivering of those lips beneath? Her insides glistening to gliding synth strings?
Other words for it, sure, but words no longer matter. They are merely a means. A vessel. She’s trembling.
Hardly aware of her surroundings. How in their shared chamber this is reality. It isn’t a dream. Isn’t scared.

His lips shift to her cheek. Left cheek. Right cheek. She leans her head back into the sheet. Happy.
Elated. Stop thinking. Stop phrasing. His fingers slide up her neck again. Past her cheek. Forehead.
Curling into her hair, red as embers, long strands, and she has long legs, legs that open, legs that spread.
His other hand snakes down her chest. Her shoulder. She knows what he’s searching for. What he needs.

Her dress covered her chest. So he removes the strap from her shoulder. Slips his fingers beneath.
Behind fabric. And she gasps. She seizes up from the touch. Makes her shiver. Spasm. Tighten up.
Forget her hair. He wants something else. His other hand's too desperate. Doesn’t snake or touch.
It escapes her touch. Her fingers all over him. Tips pressing in. Teasing. Tasting. Touching. Weaving.

They time this. Mindlessly. Blindly. The timing. Time. Both hands deny her garment. Sliding up her thighs.
She wants to cry. In the best way imaginable. Doesn’t want to hide. Doesn’t want to fight. Neither to deny.
He has buttons on his shirt. They were worthless. Like her dress. Monstrous. Animalistic. Her gasp is.
Violent. She rips those buttons as though they were her worst enemy. Exposes his chest. Famished.

They both were. He proves it as he hikes the hem of her dress upward. His breathing is so very heavy.
It’s an expensive white dress. Can’t say the same of her underwear. Same color as her bed. It was red.
Her fingernails trail a maze from his belly button to his pecs, digging into his skin, as gazes are buried.
Into each other. Like rival tidal waves, tsunamis flooding toward one another. He escapes her gaze then.

He didn’t see red panties. He saw blood. She had already been bled, yes, yet he saw beneath her skin.
He saw the madness burning within her flesh. The very fury storming within her for how he hesitated.
What are you waiting for!? She wouldn’t wait. He had black pants. But its button can’t escape her grip.
Neither can the zipper. She rips his pants down his legs. Grey boxers. Like those pillows. “Oh Kayden…”

And the violence, passion, takes over. It takes them both.
Disheveled hair. Cracked skin. And there go their clothes.
He is as silent as the night. But she is as loud as their sea.
Fills her. Explores her core. In. Out. Oh fuck. She screams.

Beads of sweat. Saliva. Rivers of wonder in electric currents.
Again. And again. And again. Lightning. Thunder. Her urges.
And his. They become one that moment as time falls asleep.
Cries. Ocean of bliss. Climaxes. Her eyes close. She dreams.

 

[Mariah Boucheron]

Spoiler: Music IC

Time. It moves. You can never really get it back even when you try to move with it. You lose it. Granted, you always did, no matter what you do. Time stayed with you. You stayed with it. You were stuck. Like blood is to skin. Like bone is to flesh. It wasn’t endless. It wasn’t infinite. Like life. Unlike death. Death was permanent.

Sleep wasn’t. Not inherently. Unless the sleep was endless. Otherwise, sleep was like the sea. It could be anyway. A sweet dream. Bliss. The previous evening was nothing less. Nothing more. Nothing short of complete, utter glory. From uttered kisses. Orchestra. Orgasmic music. Orgasms. Organs. Oceans.

Unlike a serene sea, however, a dream could be as violent as an ocean in a storm. Her pleasure was quite like that. So was his. They took each other, over and over, into the night. They loved it. They wanted. They needed it. He did. So did she.

What followed those moments was the inevitable slumber. Her need for sleep was unquestionable. However, if she was ask to remember when, to pinpoint the exact moment like a speck of marrow in her joint, she would not be able to answer. Who could ever remember when they drift into slumber?

Where, though, that was a different question. That was an easy one to answer. She fell asleep on her bed. No doubt about it. She was there. Naked. Head on pillows. He was there too. With her. They made love together. They slept together. They slept together. Shared her apartment bed.

Her name is Mariah.
His name is Kayden.
They’re both pariahs.
A bachelor. A maiden.

Or was it all a dream?
She has time to think.
Waking from a sleep.
To a new music beat.

Guitar strings. Twang and twing. She wakes up lazily to the new tune of her stereo. Oh, her bedroom was warm. Suddenly it’s cold. Like their skin had been. They had turned the lights off. Naturally. Darkness made sense then. As did her grogginess. Not like she was intoxicated. Rather, the daze of lethargy that came following an evening of lovemaking.

On the surface, that’s all it was. However, something was...different. Easy to remember the surface of her bed. Her apartment was as luxurious as she was rich. That meant the sheets were smooth, the bed was soft, the pillows like a cloud to rest the head.

Somehow…this was different. Had he taken her in the bathroom all over again? Back to the kitchen? That would explain this hard texture on her back. It felt cold. She wasn’t naked though. Otherwise her entire body would be exposed to this cold something.

No, she felt her stomach, with its garment, but her shoulders were bare. She felt her thighs, with its fabric, but her lower legs were bare. My...white...dress..? Where… When didn’t matter. Not at this moment. What mattered was where.

“Where…” Even her speech is lazy. Tongue is slow. Like it had been getting toyed with all night. Something…isn’t right. “Where… K-Kayden..?”

Her eyes open. Finally. But it’s too dark to see. Dark as darkness. As pitch black as black. Like she had fallen and had been swallowed whole by some black hole. It’s…it’s cold…

“Kayden? Are you there? Where…where are—”

Then, in the dark, there is light. A blinding light. Not so bright. Her eyes just have to try to adjust to this white. Where… “Wh-What…” She blinks. She swallows. Thirsty. Hungry. Bare feet. Can’t think. Must go.

Forward. Toward the light. Eyes finally adapt to the darkness of her environment. Ceiling above the light. Pipes on the ceiling. Blinking. Adapting. Beneath the pipes and the light is a table. She walks toward it. Aware of the creeping darkness. Aware of her beating heart. She walks. As far as she is able.

“What…what…what the…f-fuck…”

Cold surface. The floor is. The surface of the table, who knows, she doesn’t touch it. She moves forth and stops beside it. On its top is a...fish. Frozen. That would explain the lack of stench in its death.

Music continues. Guitar strings. Coming from the ceiling. No stereo. Something’s coming. It screeches. She doesn’t scream. But she gasps, most definitely, as she turns to see…something.

She immediately comprehends the squeak despite suddenly being too terrified to speak. Coming toward her, from the darkness, is a small thing in comparison. Two wheels. No, three. A triangle. A tricycle. With something on it. Arms. Legs. Garbed in black. Closer. A kind of black suit. With a red tie. She is its witness. It is a puppet.

Can’t comprehend how scared she is as she lays eyes on this…puppet…with its black hair. White face. Pale as moonlight. Rosy red lips. Red swirls for cheeks. Red eyes like blood dripping.

It speaks.

“Hello, Mariah.”

It…knows…my name…

“I want to play a game.”

She is frozen. Doesn’t know why.
This had to just be some bad joke, right?
But she…could sense…something…is…amiss…with this…

“Here’s what happens if you lose…”